2 Weeks Later…

Still no fucking owls.

Bella had been out in the middle of the forest for two weeks and she hadn’t seen one mother fucking, cock sucking, titty licking, piece of shit owl yet.

She eventually found her way back to civilization on her second day by following the river down to the road but when her text messages came in, she saw one from her ex that had her turning around and marching right back into the forest. It said: Haha! I knew you were going to quit.

That prick wasn’t about to get the satisfaction of her failure, so she turned around, hiked back into the woods, and had been camping ever since.

It was a beautiful day in the forest and she sighed as she sat down on her favorite rock by the watering hole. There was a pond in the distance where the animals came out to drink. Bella loved it there and she went by every day to watch the beautiful birds darting through the tall grass and the gorgeous deer that would sometimes come to the pond to drink and mingle for happy hour. But her favorite reason for coming was to see her new friend.

Her only friend out here.

He was big, brown, and furry with four long jagged scars running across the length of his face. A spectacular grizzly bear that she had named Cliff. There was no special reason for the name; he just looked like a Cliff.

Cliff had first come by on the afternoon of her second day in the forest. She had been nervous to have him around at first, especially since he looked so gruesome with the four deep scars running across his face. She often wondered what happened to the other bear who gave it to him. Probably a skeleton somewhere by the size of him. Bella couldn’t imagine a bear so big that he could take on Cliff.

The bear had frozen and stared at her for almost a full minute the first time he had seen her. Since then he was always intensely curious about her, watching her for hours, sniffing the air, and always showing up at the same time to see her.

It sounded ridiculous to say out loud but Bella was convinced that he came every day to see her. He would walk in every afternoon, tense and waving his head around looking for something. When his eyes would finally settle on Bella he would let out a breath of relief and his body would relax.

After a few days of meeting like that, Bella got a little braver and tried to get closer. She had been extremely lonely and was desperately craving some contact after being alone for so many days.

Cliff backed away from her, shaking his head nervously.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” she said, staring into his sad eyes. Her heart broke for him. He looked even more lonely than she felt.

“It’s okay,” she whispered as she tried to approach him once again.

Cliff lowered his sad head and ran away. Bella just stood there watching him until he disappeared into the forest. She couldn’t understand why he was afraid of her.

That had been four days ago and ever since Bella respectfully kept her distance from the bear.

“Hey, Cliff!” she yelled out, waving her hand. “Did you catch the episode of Housewives of Bear County last night? What a bitch that panda slut is!”

She was respectfully keeping her distance from him but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to talk to him.

Constantly.

“Did you get a new haircut, Cliff?” she asked as she sat down on her usual rock. “It looks great. Are those red highlights or is that just more deer blood?”

She looked up at the shining sun and sighed. “Still no fucking owls if you were wondering. I’m beginning to think these little fuckers are extinct. Guess that means I’ll get a big fat F on my dissertation paper.”

Cliff stood there watching, completely forgetting to drink the water that he supposedly came there for.

“Can I come live with you after I don’t graduate and can’t get a job?” she asked with a shake of her head. Cliff raised his nose, his brown eyes lighting up. She laughed but then waved him off. “Trust me, you wouldn’t want to live with me. I’m talking toothpaste on the counter, wet towels on the floor, moldy cereal in the sink, it’s a real shit show.”

The large bear walked to the water and lowered his head to drink, never taking his eyes off of Bella. She would have been terrified with any other bear, but this was Cliff.

And Cliff wouldn’t hurt her.

“It’s funny,” she said, grinning at him. “You’re an apex predator and I’m at the bottom of the food chain out here. I should be running like Usain Bolt with his dick on fire whenever I see you but for some reason, I’m not afraid. Either I’ve truly lost my mind out here, or we’re friends.” She sighed when he didn’t answer. “Or maybe I’m just stupider than I thought.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “That can’t be it. I’m smart as fuck.”

She laughed at the ridiculousness of the statement. If she was smart at all, she wouldn’t be out here. She would be writing her dissertation on the effectiveness of spas and doing her research by testing out different masseuses, rather than out here, observing the complete lack of owls.

“Have you seen any owls lately?” she asked Cliff. “Can you send them my way if you do?”

Cliff raised his head, his gentle eyes turning hard and fierce as they narrowed on her.

“Or not,” she said with a gulp as he slowly raised his head. Streams of water poured out of his black lips that were curling up over his deadly teeth.

“Cliff,” she whispered, swallowing hard as he stepped around the pond with the long brown hairs on his back standing straight up. “Please don’t eat me.”

He looked terrifying as he circled the pond, never taking his heated eyes off of her. Bella’s pulse started racing as her stomach hardened.

She would have ran if her legs didn’t feel so weak and if she had somewhere to run to. “Cliff,” she whispered again through trembling lips. Her bulging eyes were locked on him. She was unable to blink.

Her breaths were coming out quick and raspy even though she wasn’t moving.

Cliff picked up the pace, his massive body rushing toward her as his face twisted in ferocious anger. Bella was frozen to the spot. All she could do was shake and watch as he barreled down on her, wondering why her only friend was about to kill her.

She squeezed her eyes tight and cringed when he was a heartbeat away. She clenched every muscle in her body, expecting his teeth to sink into her but all she felt was a slap of wind as he flew past her.

“Wha-” she gasped, opening her eyes and turning as the flash of brown exploded past her.

Cliff roared as he collided into another grizzly bear that she hadn’t seen sneaking up behind her. The two bears crashed to the ground, snapping and snarling in a gnash of vicious teeth and claws.

Bella found her strength and jumped up, backing away as she watched, cheering on Cliff. The fight didn’t last long. The second bear got to his feet and ran away, whimpering and whining as he left a wet trail of red spots behind him.

Cliff turned and looked at her with a somber face, his heavy breaths coming out deep and raspy. She had never been this close to Cliff before. He looked so beautiful and so sad at the same time. A tragic beauty.

The scars on his face ran deep, the scars on his soul ran even deeper.

There was something about him that took Bella’s breath away. Maybe it was the mournful way that he was looking at her or the heartbroken look in his eye, but it made her want to reach out and hug him.

He wasn’t going to hurt her. She knew that now.

Cliff had saved her life and she was going to repay him with a show of affection, which he looked like he desperately needed.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her heart pounding as she stepped forward. She reached out for him and he swung his head to get away from her, but his shoulder crashed into her ribs. He was so large and strong that she flew to the side, unable to break her fall.

Luckily, there was a large rock to do it for her. Her head slammed into the rock, shaking her to the core as blackness descended on her.

The last thing she saw was Cliff’s worried face approaching before the darkness swallowed her whole.